


One Breath At A Time

by toesohnoes



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M, Post-Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-13
Updated: 2011-11-13
Packaged: 2017-10-26 00:35:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/276614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toesohnoes/pseuds/toesohnoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Long after the others are gone, only Rick and Shane are left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Breath At A Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written at my [Tumblr](http://toestastegood-fic.tumblr.com/post/12292184158/the-place-is-a-tumbledown-shit-hole-in-the-middle).

The place is a tumbledown shit-hole in the middle of nowhere, but there are no bodies inside and no walkers for miles. For Shane, that’s enough to make it heaven.

“We can stop here for the night,” he suggests. At his side, Rick squints at the building from beneath the wide rim of his hat. “‘s not like we’re gonna find anywhere better.”

His feet are aching. Rick doesn’t complain, wouldn’t complain, but Shane knows him well enough to tell that the heat and exhaustion are getting to him too. If they keep going, they’ll be no use to anybody.

Inside the shack is pretty much the same as outside, and there are so many holes in the wall that the in-out distinction is damn slim. But there’s a roof over their heads, of a sort, and there’s a bed in the corner that’s a whole lot better than sleeping on the dusty ground for yet another night in a row.

Rick is quiet as they look around and settle down. No surprise there. He’s always quiet these days; he has been ever since -

Well, ever since everything.

Shane searches the place high and low, but he doesn’t find a scrap of food, not even a secret stash of tins. Whoever abandoned it didn’t leave a single thing behind. “Looks like we’re going hungry tonight,” Shane says, staring at the empty cupboards hanging open on the wall.

“I’m fine,” Rick answers.

Shane’s heard that one too many times to believe it. He looks over to Rick, where he is hunched over himself and perched on the side of the bed. He hardly looks like himself any more - he’s not the vibrant man that Shane remembers.

( _You should never have left_ , he thinks every night. _You should’ve been there to protect them_.)

“C’mon, let’s get some rest,” he says, abandoning the thought of food in favour of crossing over to the bed. He prods at Rick until he moves over, heaving himself onto the bed as if his limbs weigh a ton.

Lying down beside Rick, pressed up close against his back, Shane tries not to think about how this used to be all he wanted: Rick all to himself, the pair of them in bed together.

Be careful what you wish for doesn’t begin to cover it, not this time. Every time he gets what he wants, Shane feels another part of himself rot and die.


End file.
